Bitstamp丟失價值500萬美元比特幣

Europe’s leading bitcoin exchange, Bitstamp, has been forced to suspend operations after losing millions of dollars worth of the virtual currency due to an apparent hack, an incident that is likely to fuel concerns about security issues surrounding the nascent bitcoin industry.

歐洲領先比特幣交易所Bitstamp因一次明顯的黑客攻擊丟失了價值數百萬美元的比特幣，此後該所被迫停止交易，這一黑客事件可能會引發外界對這個新興行業安全問題的擔憂。

Bitstamp, based in Slovenia and the UK, has halted withdrawals and advised customers not to make deposits following the security breach.

Bitstamp總部位於斯洛文尼亞和英國。在出現安全漏洞後，該公司已暫停比特幣提取，並建議客戶不要再往舊地址存款。

Bitstamp, considered the world’s third busiest exchange, said that less than 19,000 bitcoins — worth around $5m — had been lost after its “operational wallets” were compromised.

Bitstamp表示，在其“運營錢包”遭到破壞後，不到1.9萬枚比特幣（價值約500萬美元）丟失。該公司被視爲全球最忙碌的第三大比特幣交易所。

However, it said that the vast majority of its reserves remained untouched as they are held in “cold storage”, meaning they are held on computers not connected to the internet and thus away from the reach of cyber attackers.

然而，該公司表示，其存儲的大多數比特幣仍然是安全的，它們被存放在“冷存儲器”中，這意味着，這些比特幣存放在沒有連接互聯網的電腦上，因此不會被網絡攻擊者盜取。

In a statement, it said: “Bitcoin customers can rest assured that their Bitcoins held with us prior to temporary suspension of services . . . are completely safe and will be honoured in full.”

Bitstamp在聲明中表示：“比特幣客戶可以放心，他們在暫停服務之前存放在我們這裏的比特幣……完全安全，而且將全額兌現。”

Around a year ago, the then largest bitcoin exchange, Mt Gox, collapsed after being targeted by hackers. The Japan-based group lost around 850,000 bitcoin, worth close to $450m.

大約一年前，當時最大的比特幣交易所Mt Gox因遭受黑客攻擊而破產。這家總部位於日本的公司丟失了大約85萬枚比特幣，價值近4.50億美元。

Ongoing concerns about whether ordinary users can trade safely in Bitcoin have led to a steady fall in the price of the cryptocurrency.

人們仍對普通用戶能否安全交易比特幣感到擔心，這導致比特幣價格穩步下跌。

At its peak, bitcoin traded for $1,240 on the Mt Gox exchange. According to Coindesk, the bitcoin news site, the price is currently around $275.

在峯值時期，在Mt Gox交易所的比特幣價格曾高達1240美元。根據比特幣新聞網站Coindesk的數據，目前的價格爲275美元左右。